Michigan CEOs offer blunt message on economic recovery: We're still not out of the hole

Students walk by the West Hall on U-M central campus in Ann Arbor in January 2018. One of the controversial positions the report from Michigan's top CEO group Business Leaders for Michigan takes is to provide matching funds to enable universities to more aggressively attract federal research.
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Michigan's top CEO group Business Leaders for Michigan offered a blunt appraisal Wednesday of the state's economic performance.

The bottom line: Michigan has come back nicely from the Great Recession but still lags the most successful states in total economic performance.

And the goal: Grow Michigan back to a top-10 performer among the 50 states through a vigorous process of economic and political reform.

“Our state has worked hard to recover from the darkest days of the Great Recession,” said Doug Rothwell, BLM president and CEO. “While we’ve made great progress to date, we can’t afford to lose sight of what’s happening nationally and how competitive other states and countries are.”

The CEO group, with this latest in a series of annual assessments, joins a host of others, from Gov. Rick Snyder to economic think tanks, offering ways to get Michigan back to the nation-leading status it once enjoyed as an economic powerhouse.

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Doug Rothwell of the Business Leaders for Michigan talks to the Detroit Free Press in February 2012(Photo: Jessica J. Trevino, Detroit Free Press)

Most of the many plans agree on the essentials — invest more in education, welcome immigrants, fix our cities, put sufficient money into infrastructure and advance our technological expertise especially in mobility.

But the Business Leaders for Michigan report goes farther than most in its level of detail and its willingness to draw ideas from all shades of the political spectrum.

The report offers blunt honesty about how far Michigan needs to go. Michigan's growth rate for the past few years has been brisk. But the state dug such a deep hole during the Great Recession that Michigan remains far behind leading states.

For example, take per capita personal income. Michigan's rate of growth in that category ranked 10th among the 50 states for 2015-16. But even that good recent performance only brought up the state to 31st place.

Other economic metrics shows similar performance — good recent gains but still lagging compared to the rest of the nation.

Using a mountaineering metaphor, Blake Krueger, chair of the CEO group, said Tuesday: "We've come as a state to Base Camp Two. But the mountain only gets steeper from here on up."

If Michigan really was performing at a top 10 level, the new report said, Michigan would see another 34,000 employed and per capita personal income would be $9,500 higher.

The group's 10-year program, titled "Plan for a Stronger Michigan," will be released Wednesday and can be found at the BLM website businessleadersformichigan.com.

Many of the proposals could cost more or be politically controversial. For example, the group recommended that Michigan shift money from road repairs to higher education and then replace the road money with new user fees — higher vehicle registrations, say, or tolls on roads.

Empower metro regions to fund regional assets by referendum without state pre-authorization, such as transit systems, parks and cultural amenities. That would remove the state legislators in Lansing from issues such as creating a regional transit system in metro Detroit.

Immigration reform, some of which would require federal approval, including increasing the number of H-1B visas available to foreign workers coming to Michigan, and allowing foreign-born individuals with advanced technical degrees from U.S. universities to qualify immediately for a green card to work and live permanently in the U.S.

Increase the amount of state student aid.

Fix auto insurance laws that discourage residency in any particular community like Detroit.

Prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation for employment as already done for race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability.

“The Plan for a Stronger Michigan reflects the tremendous gains we’ve made, and the challenges and opportunities ahead,” Krueger, who is also CEO of Wolverine Worldwide, said Tuesday. "By focusing on what matters most, we are optimistic that together we can build a strong, prosperous Michigan that works for everyone.”

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.